1989 Maccabiah Games

The 13th Maccabiah Games brought 4,500 athletes to Israel from 45 nations.

13th Maccabiah
Host cityTel Aviv, Israel
Nations45[1]
Debuting countries Hong Kong
 Soviet Union
 Singapore
 South Korea
Athletes4,400
Main venueRamat Gan Stadium

Jewish athletes from Hungary participated for the first time since World War II, Jewish athletes from Russia had been permitted, by their country, to play for the first time.

Lithuania competed in first and second games, but had to stop because of occupation by Soviet Union. In 1989 Lithuania reentered the games and it was the first time after occupation when athletes from Lithuania participated under Lithuanian flag in competition recognized by IOC.[2]

History

The Maccabiah Games are named after the Jewish warrior Judah Maccabee, who in 167 B.C. defeated Roman armies that invaded Israel.[3]

The Maccabiah Games were first held in 1932.[4] World War II forced the games to be postponed between 1938-50.[3] In 1961, they were declared a "Regional Sports Event" by, and under the auspices and supervision of, the International Olympic Committee.[5][6][7] Among other Olympic and world champions, swimmer Mark Spitz won 10 Maccabiah gold medals before earning his first of nine Olympic gold medals.[8]

Notable competitors

In track and field, American Olympian Ken Flax won the gold medal in the hammer throw with a 78.86 meter toss.[9][10] Israeli Rogel Nachum, future 3-time Olympian, won a gold medal in the triple jump.[11]

In swimming, American Olympian and world champion Joanna Zeiger competed and won a gold medal, a silver medal, and two bronze medals.[12][13] Belgian Olympic swimmer Sidney Appelboom won a gold medal in the 200 m breaststroke.[3] Brazilian Olympic swimmer Patrícia Amorim won both the 400 m and 800 m freestyle gold medals.[3] Eran Groumi competed for Israel in swimming, winning the 100 m and 200 m butterfly.[3] Olympian Marlene Bruten won a silver medal in the 200 m butterfly.[3] Hungarian Olympic swimmer Tamás Deutsch and American swimmer John Witchel also competed in swimming, winning a silver medal in the 200 m freestyle.[14][3] American Olympian rower Sherry Cassuto won the single sculls crew event.[11]

In tennis, Israeli Ilana Berger defeated American Andrea Berger (who won a gold medal herself, in women's doubles) to win the gold medal in women's singles.[3][15] South African Howard Joffe, part of the ROW (Rest of the World) team due to country sanctions, won the gold medal in men's singles in tennis (and a silver medal in men's doubles), defeating silver medalist Shahar Perkiss of Israel (who won a gold medal in men's doubles with Boaz Merenstein).[11] American Dan Goldberg won two bronze medals in tennis, in the men's and mixed doubles.[16][17] In addition, Doug Eisenman competed for the United States in tennis.[18]

In gymnastics, Israeli future Olympian Ron Kaplan won a gold medal in the individual all-around competition, at 19 years of age.[19][20] Brazilian Olympian Alan Adler won a gold medal in the yacht laser event.[3] In rowing, American Olympian Sherry Cassuto won the single sculls crew event, which was a new event.[3]

Israelis Lior Arditti and Nadav Henefeld (who was voted the MVP in basketball) won gold medals with the Israeli basketball team, as the Israeli basketball team won for the first time in 16 years.[3][21] Basketball player Jerry Simon, who later made aliyah and played professionally in Israel, won a silver medal with Team USA, which was coached by Ben Braun.[22][23]

Chris O'Loughlin won a silver medal in epee, and a bronze medal in team epee, in fencing for the United States.[24] Shawn Lipman represented the United States in rugby union, and was selected as MVP of the Rugby Event, as the team won a bronze medal.[25] American squash player Stephen L. Green competed, but could not repeat his 1985 bronze medal performance.[26] In wrestling, Canadian future Olympian Andrew Borodow won two gold medals.[27]

American future Hall of Famer Jeff Agoos and Seth Roland competed in soccer for the United States.[28][29][30][31] Argentine soccer player Esteban Becker won a silver medal.[32]

Closing ceremony

The closing ceremony was held at the Western Wall in Jerusalem for the first time.

Participating Jewish communities

Forty-five nations sent delegations.[1] Israel won 258 medals (97 gold), and the USA won 199 medals (74 gold).[11] Canada came in third with 67 medals (15 gold), and Hungary won 15 medals (4 gold).[11][1]

References
  1. "13th Maccabiah Games". Maccabi Canada.
  2. "Prieš 25 metus "Makabi" atletai pirmieji iškėlė trispalvę" (in Lithuanian). lrytas.lt. 2014-01-08. Archived from the original on 2014-01-09. Retrieved 2014-01-09.
  3. Tusiani, Bea (July 12, 1992). "Long Island Q & A: Ron Carner; Mobilizing American Athletes for the Maccabiah Games" – via NYTimes.com.
  4. "The 20th Maccabiah Games: A brief History (Part 1)," The Canadian Jewish News.
  5. Helen Jefferson Lenskyj (2012). Gender Politics and the Olympic Industry. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9781137291158.
  6. Mitchell G. Bard and Moshe Schwartz (2005). 1001 Facts Everyone Should Know about Israel p. 84.
  7. "History of the Maccabiah Games". Maccabi Australia. Archived from the original on 2018-09-13. Retrieved 2017-07-14.
  8. "At Maccabiah Games, 300 Jewish American athletes become bar and bat mitzvah". The Forward. July 14, 2022.
  9. "The Sidelines : Security Tight at Maccabiah Games". Los Angeles Times. July 3, 1989.
  10. "Flax sets Maccabiah record". UPI.
  11. "9 August 1989". Jewish Post.
  12. "Amateur Career". Joanna Zeiger - Olympian & World Champion. Archived from the original on 2021-01-25. Retrieved 2018-03-24.
  13. "Joanna Zeiger Inducted into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and Museum | stanton-company.com". stanton-company.com. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  14. "Results Plus". July 7, 1989 – via NYTimes.com.
  15. "MACCABIAH GAMES ANDREA BERGER WINS GOLD, SILVER IN TENNIS COMPETITION". Sun Sentinel.
  16. "Liberty Athletic Club Staff: Dan Goldberg". libertyathletic.net.
  17. "July 28, 1989 - Image 47". The Detroit Jewish News.
  18. "5 April 1989". Jewish Post.
  19. "RESULTS PLUS". The New York Times. July 5, 1989.
  20. "Results Plus". The New York Times. 5 July 1989.
  21. SHARON ROBB (December 27, 1989). "ISRAELI GETTING BASKETBALL EDUCATION". Sun-Sentinel.
  22. "Jerry Simon; Basketball - 2004". Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 2021-01-31. Retrieved 2020-07-30.
  23. Lapointe, Joe; Times, Special To the New York (March 20, 1991). "COLLEGE BASKETBALL: N.C.A.A. TOURNAMENT; Eastern Michigan Making a Name for Itself" – via NYTimes.com.
  24. "Chris O'Loughlin". USA Fencing.
  25. "US Maccabiah Rugby » Shawn Lipman". Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  26. Gallindoss, Alan. "Stephen Green & Jeff Sutton Buy Out 650 Fifth Avenue Tenant Juicy Couture For $51 Million".
  27. 1989 Canadian maccabiah delegation
  28. "Jeff Agoos". Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved April 11, 2009.
  29. "Jeff Agoos: 1996 was the Year of the Goose". socceramerica.com.
  30. "GROWING UP IN SOUTH AFRICA, WHERE RUGBY IS AS REVERED AS AMERICAN FOOTBALL IS IN THE USA". docplayer.net.
  31. "FDU's Seth Roland Named US Maccabiah Soccer Team Head Coach". northeastconference.org.
  32. "Biography". beckianweb.
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